Friday, December 29, 2017

Point of Interest - The Wild CenterLocation - Franklin County, New York, United States of AmericaTime of Visit - August 2017

During our long week trip in August, we visited The Wild Center in New York state and it was actually something that I saw from Facebook and was keen on visiting but didn't expect to actually see it any time soon.

Located in Franklin County, about an hour from Lake Placid is The Wild Center which was originally called the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks. The constructions started in 2004 with the old name and when they opened in 2006, it was renamed to The Wild Center. It was funded through donations and the entire campus is now 115 acres in size!

The main attractions that people come to see are the Wild Walk which opened in 2015 where you could actually walk across the treetops of the surrounding area. Not only is there the walk itself, but there is a giant fake bird's nest that you can climb into and there is a big spiderweb that you can play in and lie in. Besides these, there is also the tree house that you can climb and there are lots of information boards spread out in the area.

Inside the center, there is also a theater, a dining hall, some animals and more. Outside, there are plenty of hiking trails that you can wander around for some peace and quiet.

Admission was $17 per adult in 2017 and is actually good for two days, so if you don't finish everything in one day, by all means, just go back. One day was enough for us, but I can see that if you have kids, they would love to come back.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Located in Merced County, California is the San Luis Reservoir which is a water storage reservoir that you shouldn't miss if you are in the area. In fact, it is the largest off-stream reservoir in the United States.

Picture of the water level in 2017

If you do happen to visit, make sure to check out the free Romero Overlook Visitor Center. This center has a lot of information behind the history of the reservoir as well as a very scary picture of how low the water level was just one year ago in 2016 (we went in 2017).

Picture of the water level in 2016 (the platform is in the picture above).

Friday, December 15, 2017

While visiting San Francisco, a touristy must is to visit Crooked Street. Why would you want to visit Crooked Street? Well, take a look at the picture below.

Located on Lombard Street between Hyde St and Leavenworth St is the famous Crooked Street which is a one-way, one block street that has a steep elevation drop which consists of 8 hair-pin turns. It was actually designed this way due to how steep the drop is. If you drive in San Francisco, you will know what I mean by steep drops. There are streets where it seems like you are on a roller coaster with how sheer the drop is.

When you get here, make sure to take some pictures and video safely. It was actually a bit odd since there was an actually person that was conducting traffic flow and pedestrian safety due to how many tourists there are trying to take pictures with this street. We actually went during a weekday and was told that it wasn't even that busy compared to the weekend. I can't imagine what the insanity must be like.

We did only travel this on foot and we opted out of driving down it. Allison did ask me about it, but I didn't really care to do 5 mph on such a steep and short section of road. Plenty of people road down this street with their GoPros shooting out of the roofs of cars.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Located on the northwest side of San Francisco is Lands End Lookout, a park with great views and some short trails all along the coast line. It is actually part of the National Parks Services and it is free for visitors.

There is free parking in the area, although it did seem to be fairly busy and popular when we arrive early in the afternoon. I imagine it would be easier to find parking earlier in the day.

At the main area of Lands End is the visitor center which you should definitely visit for some history about the place and if you have any questions, there are rangers that will answer your questions. There are also national park stamps if you collect those (the rubber stamps, not actual stamps for mail).

There is a very nice coastal hike from Lands End to Eagle's Point which has a lot of people walking along. There is a bit of an up/down hill portion, but nothing too strenuous.